The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has revised Romania's growth forecast for this year, to 1.8 percent from a previous forecast of 1.1 percent released in January this year, saying that the austerity measures will keep the budget deficit under control, but the economy will advance modestly.

In the South-Eastern Europe, the financial institution expects a growth of 2.2 percent this year, compared to the 1.9 percent forecast made in January. South-East European countries included in the study are Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. However, the bank warns that the crisis in the euro area and the strong increase in commodity prices pose risks to the economic recovery in the region.

Established at the end of the Cold War to help former communist states to make the transition to market economy, the EBRD finances projects in 29 countries.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com